Fuel pump assembly with removable supports

ABSTRACT

An in-tank fuel pump assembly may have a mounting flange with a plurality of first couplings, a fuel pump, a carrier connected to the fuel pump, a plurality of second couplings on at least one of the carrier and the fuel pump, and a plurality of supports each connected to one or the first and second couplings to locate the pump relative to the mounting flange.

REFERENCE TO CO-PENDING APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser.No. 62/315,360, filed Mar. 30, 2016, which is incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to a fuel pump assembly for avehicle fuel supply system

BACKGROUND

Vehicles typically include a fuel system with a fuel tank, a fuel pumpthat pumps fuel from the tank to a vehicle engine to support operationof the engine, and sometimes other components, such as a fuel levelsensor, fuel pressure regulator, fuel injectors, fuel filter and thelike. In some vehicles, the fuel pump is mounted within the vehicle fueltank as part of a module or assembly that may include other componentsof the fuel system, such as the fuel level sensor and one or more fuelfilters all carried on a common support structure. Some modules havebeen mounted in the fuel tank by a mounting flange received in anopening of a fuel tank and secured to a wall of the fuel tank. Often,the fuel tanks are disposed in relatively small and oddly shaped areaswhich can lead to a wide range of shapes and sizes of fuel tanks. Somefuel tanks may have a limited depth or other constructions that make itdifficult to insert a module that includes full size accessories orcomponents into the fuel tank.

SUMMARY

A fuel pump assembly for a fuel tank may include a mounting flange withcouplings, a fuel pump, a carrier connected to the fuel pump, couplingson the carrier and/or the fuel pump, and a plurality of spaced-apartsupports extending between and connected to the couplings to attach thefuel pump to the mounting flange. The couplings may be configured sothat supports of different lengths may be used to permit the samemounting flange, carrier and/or fuel pump to be used in fuel pumpassemblies for fuel tanks having a wide range of different shapes andsizes and particularly fuel tanks having different depths betweenportions of their top and bottom walls in the area in which the fuelpump assembly is mounted in the fuel tank. The couplings may permiteither permanent attachment or removable attachment to the supports.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The following detailed description of certain embodiments and best modewill be set forth with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a fuel pump assembly;

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the fuel pump assembly;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a mounting flange of the fuel pumpassembly;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view of a coupling and a support;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view of another coupling and supporttube;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view of another coupling and support;and

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view of another coupling and support.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring in more detail to the drawings, FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate afuel pump assembly 10 that is constructed and arranged to be disposedwithin a vehicle fuel tank 12 (only part of which is shown), such as ina marine vehicle, snowmobile, ATV, motorcycle or automobile, which arenon-limiting examples. The assembly 10 includes an electric motor drivenfuel pump 14 that delivers fuel under pressure from the fuel tank 12 toan engine to support operation of the engine. The fuel pump 14 mayinclude a turbine type pumping element (e.g. a rotary impeller) used topressurize the fuel, or any other suitable type, including but notlimited to a positive displacement pump with gerotor or other pumpingelements. The assembly 10 may also include a fuel level sender 16 thatprovides an indication of the amount of fuel within the fuel tank 12,and a fuel filter 18 that may filter fuel before that fuel is drawn intothe inlet 19 of the fuel pump 14.

The fuel pump assembly 10 includes a mounting flange 20 having aradially outwardly extending lip 22 adapted to overlie and be sealed toa fuel tank wall 24, and may have a depending cylindrical skirt 26adapted to be received within an opening 28 of the fuel tank. Themounting flange 20 may carry one or more components or accessories ofthe fuel pump module 10, such as an electrical connector or electricalpass through region 30 (e.g. an area through which wires may passthrough the flange, preferably with a seal between the wires and flange)and a fuel pressure regulator 32. The electrical connector or passthrough region 30 may couple together wires 34 external to the fuel tank12 with wires 36 within the fuel tank and connected to, for example, thefuel level sender 16 and the fuel pump 14. In this way, power may beprovided to the components 14, 16 within the tank 12, and signals (e.g.indicative of fuel level) from the components may be provided to alocation outside of the tank. The fuel level sender 16, pressureregulator 32 and electrical connector or pass through region 30 may beof generally standard construction and will not be described furtherherein. A fluid fitting 38 with an internal passage 40 (FIG. 3) may beprovided on or molded with the mounting flange 20 and may communicatethe outlet of the fuel pump 14 with a fuel line through which fuel isdelivered to the engine. To retain the pressure regulator 32 on theflange 20, the flange 20 may include a pocket or cavity 42 that receivespart of the pressure regulator. The cavity 42 may be communicated withthe fluid fitting passage 40 via a connecting passage 44 so that outletfuel from the fuel pump 14 is communicated with the pressure regulator32.

The mounting flange 20 may be molded of a polymeric material suitablefor use with a polymeric fuel tank 12, and to be sealed to a fuel tankwall 24, or the flange may be formed from metal or any other suitablematerial. The mounting flange 20 may include one or more first couplingfeatures 46 that may extend into or are otherwise open to an interior 48of the fuel tank 12 (in which the fuel pump is received) and areconstructed and arranged to facilitate coupling the fuel pump 14 to theflange. The first coupling features 46 may include one or more blindbores in cylindrical projections extending from the flange 20, or one ormore projections extending from the flange into the fuel tank 12 (e.g.toward the fuel tank interior 48), or both.

The fuel pump 14 may be supported by a carrier 52. The carrier 52 mayhave any desired shape and size. In the implementation shown, thecarrier 52 includes a sidewall 54 that surrounds at least part of thefuel pump 14. The fuel pump 14 could be connected to the carriersidewall 54 in any suitable way, including by a bracket, clip, band,fasteners or the like, so that the fuel pump is carried by and orretained in place relative to the carrier 52. The carrier 52 may includean upper surface 56 spaced between the flange 20 and a bottom 58 of thefuel tank 12, or a bottom 60 of the fuel pump 14. The upper surface 56and the fuel pump 14 may be contained within an imaginary cylinder 62(diagrammatically shown in broken lines in FIG. 1) extending from aperiphery 64 of the mounting flange 20, so that the assembly 10 can bereceived within a fuel tank opening 28 that is covered by the flange 20when the assembly 10 is mounted to the fuel tank 12. In this way, theflange 20 overlies the fuel pump 14 and carrier 52. Other componentslike the fuel level sender 16 and the fuel filter 18 may be flexible ormovable so that they can also fit through the same fuel tank opening 28in which the fuel pump 14 and carrier 52 are received, but may havepositions wherein they extend outside of the imaginary cylinder 62, asshown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

To retain the position within the fuel tank 12 of the carrier 52 andfuel pump 14, the carrier and/or the fuel pump may be coupled to themounting flange 20. In the example shown, the carrier 52, fuel pump 14or both, include one or more second coupling features 66. To connect thecarrier 52 and fuel pump 14 to the flange 20, supports 68 extend betweenthe first coupling features 46 on the flange and the second couplingfeatures 66 on one or both of the carrier 52 and fuel pump 14. Eachsupport 68 may be mated to a first coupling feature 46 at one end 70 andto a second coupling feature 66 at a second end 72, and in someimplementations this may be accomplished without any additionalfasteners, to facilitate assembly and reduce complexity and cost of thefuel pump assembly 10.

For example, where the coupling features 46, 66 include protrusions, thesupports 68 may include cavities or passages sized to be press-fit overor onto the protrusions. And where the coupling features 46, 66 includesa cavity (e.g. a blind bore), the supports 68 may be pressed orotherwise received in the cavity. In some implementations, the first orsecond coupling features 46, 66 may be defined by a cylindrical andtubular wall having an axis, and the associated support 68 may bepressed into the cavity defined within the wall, or over the exteriorsurface of the wall, such that the wall is received within the support.The connection between the mated components 46, 66, 68 may be maintainedwith an interference or friction fit to inhibit unintended separation ofthe components, if desired. Adhesives, threads, welds, clamps,snap/locking features or other modes of connection may be used tomaintain the connection between the components, but are not needed inall implementations.

As shown in FIG. 2, the supports 68 may be rods with at leastcylindrical end portions received in complimentary substantiallycircular or annular cavities or pockets of couplings 46, 66 and retainedtherein such as by an interference fit or by an adhesive. As shown inFIG. 4, a support 68 may be a rod or tube 90 with one or both ends 92 incross-section with a non-circular configuration such as a rectangularconfiguration 92 which may be received in a complimentary non-circularpocket or recess 94 of a coupling 96. As shown in FIG. 5, a support maybe a tube 98 with an interior passage 100 and at one or both of its endsan exterior surface 102 which may be circular or non-circular incross-section and receivable in a coupling 104 with a recess or pocket106 with an interior side wall 108 having a complimentary circular ornon-circular configuration 108.

As shown in FIG. 6, a support 110 may have a bore or pocket 112 in oneor both ends thereof which may receive a complimentary pin 114 of acoupling 116. As shown in FIG. 17, a tubular support 118 may have a slotor recess 116 adjacent one or both ends which in assembly snaps over andreceives therein a complimentary shaped dog or tab 120 extendinggenerally radially from a complimentary cylindrical pin 122 of acoupling 124 to thereby attach an end of the support to the coupling.The pin 122 may have a tapered end portion 126 to facilitate insertingthe end of the support 118 over the pin and the dog 120 into the slot116 of the tube 118. A person of ordinary skill will recognize that manyother forms of couplings with complimentary end portions of supports 68may be utilized to connect the supports to the flange and the carrier 56and/or fuel pump 14.

In at least some implementations, the supports 68 may be rigid bodiesadapted to hold the carrier 52 and fuel pump 14 a set distance from theflange 20. This distance may vary according to the fuel tank 12 in whicha fuel pump assembly 10 is used, to, for example, permit the fuel filterand/or fuel pump inlet to be located adjacent to a bottom 58 of the fueltank 12. Accordingly, supports 68 of different length may be used withthe fuel pump assembly 10 to permit the fuel pump assembly to be used infuel tanks 12 having different dimensions in the area of the fuel pumpassembly. In many fuel tanks 12, the fuel pump assembly 10 will bemounted to a top or upper wall 24 and the fuel pump inlet 19 will beadjacent to the bottom 58 or lower wall of the fuel tank. The distancebetween the upper and lower walls of various fuel tanks may bedifferent. To accommodate such differences, supports 68 of differentlength may be used with the same mounting flange 20, carrier 52 and fuelpump 14 so that these components may be commonly used in fuel tanks ofdifferent sizes and dimensions.

In at least some implementations, the supports 68 are tubular bodies andmay be generally cylindrical, if desired. As shown, the carrier 52includes two coupling features 66, spaced apart about the upper surface56, and the fuel pump 14 includes one coupling feature 66. Also asshown, the fuel pump coupling feature 66 defines or is communicated withan outlet of the fuel pump 14. That is, the coupling feature 66 may bean outlet fitting 80 of a fuel pump housing 82, through whichpressurized fuel is discharged from the fuel pump 14 for delivery to anengine. In such an arrangement, the support 68 connected to the fuelpump 14 constitutes a fuel supply tube and is coupled at one end to thefuel pump 14 and at its other end to the fluid fitting 38 of themounting flange 20. The support 68 defines an internal passage throughwhich fuel flows from the fuel pump 14 to the fluid fitting 38. Thelength of this support 68 may vary according to the fuel tankdimensions, as noted above, and the length, diameter or othercharacteristics may vary according to the fuel pump 14 used. That is,different fuel pumps 14 may be mounted to the carrier 52, and thecarrier 52 may be a common component in a range of fuel pump assemblies10 used in different tanks 12, with different fuel pumps and withdifferent mounting flanges 20.

The other supports 68 (e.g. coupled to the carrier 52) need not includeinternal passages. Nevertheless, to reduce the number of differentcomponents that are needed in the assembly, the supports 68 may all bethe same size and formed from the same material, if desired.Accordingly, the supports 68 not connected to the fuel pump 14 may beconstructed the same as or similarly to the support 68 that is coupledto the fuel pump 14. Each support 68 may have a different length, thesupports may all have the same length, or as shown in FIG. 1, thesupports coupled to the carrier 52 may have a first length and thesupport connected to the fuel pump 14 may be a different length. Thesupports 68 can be rigid or flexible as desired and may be formed fromany desired material including metal, plastic (e.g. nylon), compositesand the like, suitable for use with the fuel used in the fuel system.The supports 68 can be formed of one or multiple materials. Further,while shown as being one piece, each or any of the supports 68 may bedefined by more than one piece, such as two or more tubes mated togetherto provide a desired overall length for the support.

In at least some implementations, more than two supports 68 areprovided, and the supports are not all aligned with each other (e.g.they are not arranged in a line). In the example shown, there are threesupports 68 arranged in a triangular formation so that the forces of thefuel pump 14 and carrier 52 on the flange 20 are balanced to prevent orsubstantially inhibit swaying or twisting of the pump 14 relative to theflange 20, and to more securely retain the position of the fuel pump 14relative to the flange 20. While in the illustrated implementation thesupports 68 are shown as being parallel, with their longitudinal axes 84(FIG. 2) parallel to each other and a center axis 86 of the flange 20,the supports 68 may be oriented at angles to each other or to the flangeaxis 86, as desired.

Further, while the fuel pump 14 and carrier 52 are shown as extendinggenerally vertically toward the flange 20 (e.g. a major dimension 88 ofthese components is aligned with and extends between the flange 20 andtank bottom 58), the fuel pump 14 and carrier 52 could be at a differentangle. For example, for a shallow fuel tank where the top and bottomwalls are relatively close together, the fuel pump 14 could be orientedhorizontally, where the major dimension of the fuel pump 14 is generallyperpendicular to the flange 20. Here, the support 68 coupled to the fuelpump 14 may include a right angle or other bend to accommodate ahorizontal fuel pump outlet fitting and also couple with a downwardlyfacing flange fitting 38. The other supports may likewise include bendsor be straight, as desired. And other orientations, shapes and sizes maybe used, as desired.

While the forms of the invention herein disclosed constitute presentlypreferred embodiments, many others are possible. It is not intendedherein to mention all the possible equivalent forms or ramifications ofthe invention. It is understood that the terms used herein are merelydescriptive, rather than limiting, and that various changes may be madewithout departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.

1. A fuel pump assembly, comprising: a mounting flange includingmultiple first coupling features; a fuel pump supported by the mountingflange; a carrier coupled to the fuel pump and to the mounting flange;and supports coupled between the mounting flange and at least one of thecarrier and the fuel pump, wherein at least one of the carrier and fuelpump includes second coupling features and the supports are coupled toboth the first coupling features and the second coupling features tolocate the fuel pump relative to the mounting flange.
 2. The assembly ofclaim 1 wherein the supports are connected to the coupling featureswithout any fasteners.
 3. The assembly of claim 2 wherein the supportsare pressed onto the coupling features with an interference fit or afriction fit provided between them.
 4. The assembly of claim 1 whereinthe fuel pump includes a coupling feature and a support is coupled tothe fuel pump at one end and to the mounting flange at the other end. 5.The assembly of claim 4 wherein fuel flows through the fuel pumpcoupling feature and the support, and wherein the flange includes apassage communicated with the fuel pump coupling feature via thesupport.
 6. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the supports are tubularbodies and the coupling features includes one or both of protrusionsover which the supports are fitted, and cavities into which the supportsare fitted.
 7. The assembly of claim 1 wherein three or more supportsare provided, each support being coupled to the mounting flange at oneend and to the fuel pump or the carrier at the other end.
 8. Theassembly of claim 7 wherein the three supports are not aligned with eachother.
 9. The assembly of claim 1 wherein at least one support andassociated coupling feature comprises a tube with a sidewall with arecess therein and a pin received in the tube and with a dog extendinginto the recess.
 10. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the supports areconnected to the coupling features with at least one of adhesives,threads, welds, clamps, molded snaps or molded locking elements.